Feature Focus: Introducing the AI Scenario Generator
In this blog, we’ll cover what this feature is and how you can use it. For this release, we’ve made creation as easy as possible. Just click Create with AI, add a title, and select options for organisational sector, attack vector, threat actor, and scenario size. This will generate a full scenario, from the briefing to the epilogue. You can even make a cuppa while it works!🪄✨ Once created, these scenarios can be published or edited and published in your organisation's catalogue. But how exactly does it work? Organisation admins can turn the AI Scenario Generator on and off in the platform settings area, so you’ll need this to be turned on if you want to try it out! Our AI Scenario Generator is currently only available to our Cyber Crisis Simulator customers. It’s based on technology provided by OpenAI, with generations based on publicly available data related to crisis management as well as our own Immersive Labs Crisis Sim catalogue. Organisation admins can choose to use the feature in a layered approach: No AI access at all: This means that your organisation has chosen not to enable the AI Scenario Generator. Without scenario sharing enabled: You can generate AI scenarios based only on the inputs shown in the generation box. With scenario sharing enabled: The AI will access specific parts of your previously published scenarios when generating new ones, ensuring the new scenario is highly relevant to your context. These settings can be updated on the organisation's settings page. If you’re keen to use the AI Scenario Generator but it’s not enabled in your organisation, you’ll need to discuss this with your internal Organization Administrator. If you’re an Organization Administrator and want to know more about the feature, contact your CSM. Tell me more about scenario sharing! If your organisation chooses to also enable scenario sharing, Immersive Labs will include specific information from any previous custom scenarios that you’ve published in the temporary “context window” for requests to our third-party AI vendor. A "context window" is an extension of the query sent to an AI model. It exists only during the processing of the query and isn’t saved by any third parties. The third-party AI vendor won’t use any of the information you share to train its models. Shared data will only ever be included in this temporary "context window" of generation and won’t be stored by the third-party AI vendor. The shared information includes scenario titles, descriptions, inject titles, and response options. It excludes feedback to response options, exercise information, reporting, account or organisation information fields, or metadata. Scenario sharing is designed to make the generated scenario more relevant to your particular context. You can still create scenarios using AI without scenario sharing, but your scenario will likely be more generic and less relevant to your particular organisational context. However, you can still edit the final version to make it more relevant to you – just like with our catalogue scenarios. Let’s not forget the human in the loop As with all things AI, we recommend that you review the AI output before publishing your scenario, to ensure it meets your needs. The AI Scenario Generator currently only generates text content, so you’ll probably want to add additional rich media, such as images or videos, to your scenario. To get the most out of your crisis simulation, we also recommend enabling, adding, changing, and checking certain elements. These include: Checking that you’re happy with the text formatting and narrative content Checking that you’re satisfied with the role listed Enabling and adding response feedback or performance indicators If you want to capture ranked response data, select the ranked options setting and add a rank (great, good, weak, okay) to each response option to suit your organisation's preferred situational response Turning on response confidence or justifications Get involved and share your thoughts! We know that AI is a hot topic and we’re keen to hear and capture your feedback and suggestions on this first release of our AI Scenario Generator as part of our user research taking place this November and December. If you want to participate in this research, you’ll be able to share your thoughts and experiences of using our AI tool and scenario creation more generally directly with our team. Comment below if you’d like to find out more, and we’ll contact you with further details! If you’re an Immersive Labs customer, you can find out more about the AI Scenario Generator in our FAQ guide.New Labs - Malterminal: Malware Analysis
With artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) fast becoming a more popular and talked-about set of technologies in every industry in society, it's no surprise that LLM-enabled malware now exists that can dynamically generate code, query data, and offload malicious functionality to LLMs, lowering the barrier of entry for threat actors deploying malware. This lab introduces one of the first known malware samples to ever facilitate the use of LLMs to perform malicious functionality. Why should our customers care? Most, if not all, companies are looking into using AI to varying degrees, whether to make their workforce more efficient and productive or to build full models that facilitate technical processes. With this in mind, and with the advent of basic malware that can use API keys to query LLMs and AI services, we will likely see this particular malware set evolve over time. By doing this lab, you'll begin to see how these pieces of malware are just the stub and querier for AI and how they can be used maliciously. This will showcase what this threat is like in its current state. We shall be monitoring how this threat evolves, so stay tuned for more labs. Who is the defensive lab for? SOC Analysts Incident Responders Threat Hunting Here is a link to the lab: https://immersivelabs.online/v2/labs/malterminal-analysisUnlock the World of AI: Introducing Our New AI Foundations Collection!
That's why we’re thrilled to announce the launch of our new AI Foundations collection, a comprehensive set of labs designed to empower you to navigate the fast-paced world of AI confidently. This seven-part lab collection is your guided tour through the core components of modern AI implementation. We've crafted this collection for everyone, breaking down complex concepts into digestible, easy-to-understand labs. Whether you're a seasoned tech professional or just starting your AI journey, this collection will provide you with a practical, hands-on understanding of how AI systems are built and how they work together to deliver powerful capabilities. NOTE: These labs are only available for customers who haven’t opted out of AI-related content. Why a new AI collection? Our customers have asked for more in-depth AI content – a demand that mirrors the explosive growth of the AI market. This new collection is our commitment to staying at the forefront of the industry and proactively addressing the needs of our community. What you'll learn The AI Foundations collection is a journey through the essential concepts of artificial intelligence. Each lab builds on the last, culminating in a holistic understanding of modern AI systems, with a special focus on agentic AI. Here's a glimpse into what you'll discover: Episode 1: Artificial Intelligence (Theory): Dive into the fundamentals of AI, exploring what it is, how it works, and the distinctions between generative AI and AGI. It also discusses AI’s limitations and demystifies the "illusion of thinking". Episode 2: Core Components (Theory): Get acquainted with the building blocks of AI, including LLMs, embedding and diffusion models, RAG, MCP, and the exciting world of agentic AI. It also touches on crucial security considerations as AI transitions from "knowing" to "doing". Episode 3: Large Language Models (Theory): Explore the power of foundational models, the importance of fine-tuning, the role of system prompts, and security considerations such as exploitable vulnerabilities and data privacy. Episode 4: Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) (Practical): Take a deep dive into RAG, vector databases, embedding, and chunking. In this hands-on lab, you'll create a knowledge base, chunk a file, and query a fictional company's proprietary data through an integrated AI chatbot. Episode 5: Model Context Protocol (MCP) (Practical): Understand the MCP protocol and its architecture within the broader AI landscape. You'll get hands-on experience using MCP Inspector to interact with an MCP server, and instruct an AI chatbot to organize files on your desktop, gaining insight into exactly how tools are chosen and invoked. Episode 6: Agentic AI (Practical): Immerse yourself in the world of AI agents. You'll get access to real AI agents within a safe sandbox environment. The curious can poke and edit the code and explore integrated Langfuse for a deeper look into the observability of the AI system. Episode 7: Demonstrate Your Knowledge (Theory): Put your newfound knowledge to the test and solidify your understanding of the concepts covered throughout the collection. Secure and private by design We've built our practical AI labs with your security and privacy as the top priority. When you launch a lab, you're entering a completely isolated, sandboxed environment. These sandboxes are self-contained and have no connection to any customer data or personal information. Think of it as your own private, temporary workspace that’s thoroughly purged after each use. To interact with the AI models, each lab session creates temporary user credentials. Not only are these credentials temporary, but they’re also locked to the lab environment itself. This means that even if the credentials were to be exposed, they would be useless outside of the specific lab they were created for, providing a robust layer of security. Access to the internet is also strictly controlled, which only allows connections to the minimum endpoints required for the lab to function. We utilize privacy-centric AI models designed to protect your data. The models we use don’t store or log your prompts and completions. Furthermore, your interactions are never used to train any models, ensuring that your data remains your own. We’ve also opted out of any content being used for service improvements across all the AI services we use. In some of our more advanced labs, we've implemented an additional layer of security with guardrails that preprocess user inputs and model outputs to filter for harmful or inappropriate content. These guardrails are mandatory and can’t be bypassed by users within the lab environment. These multiple layers of security work together to provide a safe and secure environment for you to learn and experiment with AI. Who is this collection for? Everyone! We've designed these labs to be a guided walkthrough, making even the more technical details accessible to anyone working with or interested in AI. Whether you're a developer, a business leader, a student, or simply a curious mind, our AI Foundations course will equip you with the knowledge and skills to thrive in the age of artificial intelligence. Join us on this exciting journey and unlock the power of AI. Get ready to build, innovate, and lead in the new era of intelligence.
Your Guide to Effective AI Prompting
Why Prompting Matters for Crisis Simulations Think of AI as a highly intelligent, but literal, assistant. The quality of its output directly reflects the clarity and specificity of your instructions. For crisis simulations, this means: Relevance: Tailored scenarios that mirror your organization's unique risks, industry, and operational environment. Realism: Scenarios that feel authentic, with credible triggers, evolving complications, and realistic stakeholder reactions. Depth: Multi-layered scenarios that challenge your team's decision-making, communication, and collaboration skills. Actionability: Scenarios that provide clear learning objectives and reveal actionable insights for improving your crisis response plan. Core Principles of Effective Prompting Be Specific, Not Vague Bad Prompt "Generate a crisis." (Too generic, will give you a basic, unhelpful scenario.) Good Prompt "Generate a cybersecurity crisis scenario for a mid-sized e-commerce fashion retailer. The trigger is a ransomware attack that encrypts customer databases and disrupts order fulfillment." Why it works It defines the what (cybersecurity crisis, ransomware), the who (e-commerce fashion retailer, mid-sized), and the impact (encrypted databases, disrupted orders). Define your organisation and context using our drop down fields, and then add additional context. Industry (e.g., healthcare, finance, manufacturing, tech, retail) Threat (e.g., data breach, natural disaster, product recall, public relations nightmare, supply chain disruption, insider threat, workplace violence, financial fraud) Attack vector (e.g., phishing attack, severe weather event, manufacturing defect, viral social media post, disgruntled employee action, sudden market downturn) The more information the AI has about your specific context, the more tailored the scenario will be so consider adding further information such as: Company Size: (e.g., small startup, multinational corporation) Key Products/Services: (e.g., cloud-based software, physical goods, financial advisory) Target Audience: (e.g., B2B clients, general consumers, specific demographics) Geographic Scope: (e.g., local, national, global operations) Relevant Regulations/Compliance: (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, industry-specific standards) Current Trends/Challenges: (e.g., supply chain issues, inflation, new technologies) Example: "Our company, 'Global Pharma Solutions,' is a multinational pharmaceutical company with a focus on novel drug development. We operate globally and are heavily regulated by the FDA and EMA. Generate a scenario reflecting a crisis involving a mislabeled drug batch, discovered shortly after market release in Europe and the US." Outline Key Stakeholders and Their Potential Reactions Realistic scenarios involve diverse stakeholders with varying interests and reactions. Internal: Employees, leadership, legal, HR, IT, communications, specific department teams. External: Customers, media, regulators, investors, suppliers, partners, general public, affected individuals. Desired Reaction: How should these stakeholders react? (e.g., panic, confusion, outrage, demanding answers, seeking legal action, offering support). Example: "Include reactions from panicked customers flooding social media, calls from concerned regulators, and an internal IT team struggling to diagnose the issue. Also, factor in a potential negative news story breaking on a major industry publication." Inject Complications and Escalation Crises rarely remain static. Build in elements that make the scenario evolve and become more challenging. Secondary Events: (e.g., power outage during a cyberattack, additional product defects discovered, key personnel unavailable) Information Gaps/Misinformation: (e.g., conflicting reports, rumors spreading on social media, difficulty in verifying facts) Ethical Dilemmas: (e.g., balancing transparency with legal implications, prioritizing different stakeholder needs) Time Constraints: (e.g., a critical decision needed within 30 minutes, public statement required by end of day) Example: "After the initial system outage, introduce a new complication: a cyber-espionage group claims responsibility on a dark web forum, threatening to release sensitive customer data if demands are not met, despite the initial incident being unrelated to a breach." Define the Learning Objectives (Optional, but Recommended) While the AI won't "know" your objectives, including them in your prompt can subtly guide its generation towards a scenario that helps you test specific aspects of your plan. Example: "The scenario should test our team's ability to communicate effectively under pressure," or "Focus on evaluating our supply chain resilience and alternative vendor protocols." By following these guidelines, you'll be well on your way to leveraging our AI crisis simulation feature to its fullest, preparing your team for any challenge the real world might throw at them. Happy simulating!Mastering Crisis Sim: How We Got 25 Execs on the Edge of Their Seats
Let's start with the requirements. In this case, they were clear: 1) To have a fully customised exercise focusing on payment risks and cyber threats like fraud, ransomware, and cash-outs. This is the domain expertise of Mastercard, who had no issues creating this in the Immersive platform with our review and guidance. 2) To deliver this on-site in front of 25 senior execs (including the CEO, CTO, CISO, CFO, and numerous heads of departments). It’s definitely not easy getting this many board members together in one room, so we had to make the first best impression! What did we do, and why was it a success? The stakeholders told us that they’d run tabletop exercises before, so this wasn’t new to them. So, how did we turn what they expected to be a routine drill into an edge-of-the-seat experience? What made our approach unique? Realistic AI-generated videos The amazing Crisis Sim content creation team at Immersive Labs used generative AI to create highly realistic videos that felt as though they were straight from a Pakistani news channel. Mastercard provided us with a few scripts and ideas that helped bring the AI videos to life. AI video of a news reporter tailored to resemble the Pakistani news channel. AI video of a news reporter tailored to resemble the Pakistani news channel. Why did the execs jump out of their seats? That’s because we included the following in the videos: Footage of their building on the news and customer dissatisfaction over cyberattack repercussions. News reporters with local accents and dress styles mentioning the bank and stakeholders, and unhappy Tweets flooding social media. A video of their CEO, not his real face of course, but we used his name when it came to an inject where the stakeholders voted for ‘releasing a press statement to the public’. They even specifically asked us to ensure none of these videos leaked! But each video included the message “Exercise use only – not based on real events”. AI video of the CEO giving a press conference. Collaboration This success was a team effort. Getting any presentation done right, especially in person, requires planning and knowing your audience. This is where Mastercard brought their expertise to create and tailor the Crisis Sim exercise while we supported with our guidance and previous customer experience knowledge. Our roles, tasks, and responsibilities were clear. Top tip: If you’re planning an exercise, collaborate with others for ideas and support. Double act presentation Presenting as a team made all the difference. Mastercard’s expertise in engaging senior execs helped animate the session and avoid awkward silences, while I focused on facilitating the exercise. Doing this alone can be tricky – I’ve personally struggled with awkward silences during solo Crisis Sim sessions while juggling scenario questions, multiple responses, feedback, and facilitation all at once. Sharing the load was crucial, especially in a U-shaped room where I couldn’t easily move around. In this case, I didn’t need to worry about moving away from my laptop, leaving the close-up engagement completely for Mastercard to lead on. Image example of the U-shaped conference room this took place in. The feedback The feedback was overwhelmingly positive – they said it was their first experience with such a tabletop exercise, a stark contrast to their initial expectations. The AI videos sparked significant interest and curiosity. The collaboration between Mastercard and Immersive Labs successfully delivered an educational, engaging, and tailored exercise. The bank expressed interest in running a wider crisis drill in 2025 with multiple banks. So look forward to hearing about that in the future! Finding AI video scenarios in our Crisis Sim Catalogue If you clicked on any of the AI images above thinking it was a video, I’d like to apologise. They were just screenshots as the actual videos included sensitive, bank-specific details like names and locations that we can’t share externally. If you’d like to explore AI video scenarios in our Crisis Sim platform, check out titles like: Boardroom Betrayal: When Deepfakes Strike the Top Puppetmaster’s Revenge The Walls Have Ears – Part One The Walls Have Ears – Part TwoCybersecurity Awareness Month at Immersive
Welcome to Cybersecurity Awareness Month! October is your annual opportunity to pause, benchmark your security skills, and level up your defenses against an increasingly dynamic threat landscape. This year, our primary focus is on improving AI security & resilience across your workforce. As artificial intelligence transitions from an emerging technology into core business infrastructure, it introduces both incredible efficiency and novel security risks. Whether you are defending against frontier-model-enabled threats, securing automated enterprise pipelines, or guarding against human-centric identity attacks, true resilience requires hands-on training—not just passive learning. Join us throughout October in the Immersive platform to jump into hands-on challenges, test your skills in live crisis simulations, and tune in to interactive expert events designed to help you tackle modern cyber threats head-on. Labs & Challenges 🧪 The Hex Files (Earn a digital community badge if completed by Nov 9th!) Track down and stop the Pointy Hat Society—a coven of witches-turned-hackers—through a brand new program combining both hands-on labs and single-player Crisis Sim scenarios that reinforce safer security hygiene. Then test what you’ve learned in two of our most popular challenge labs. Lab Collections: The Hex Files: Coven Up The Hex Files: Witchy Waters Crisis Sims: The Hex Files: A Brew-tal Breach The Hex Files: The Nightshade Incident AI Security & Resilience Pathways 🤖 To help organizations build workforce resilience at scale, managers can assign any of the following 5 structured programs directly to their teams: Foundational AI Literacy and Safe AI Adoption — Understand what AI tools are, how they are driving business value, and how to safely adopt them in your daily workflows. Protecting Against Frontier-Model-Enabled Threats — Learn how frontier models like Mythos accelerate threat actor workflows and sharpen your defensive capabilities against AI-driven risks. AI Purple Teaming (Blue Team) — Bridge traditional incident response into AI-specific risks, specialized telemetry, and adversary behaviors in collaborative exercises. AI Purple Teaming (Red Team) — Build practical confidence targeting AI-specific attack surfaces, finding model vulnerabilities, and translating findings into better defenses. Scattered Spider Threat Actor Defense — Master techniques to detect social engineering, identity compromise, and lateral movement typical of Scattered Spider operations. Events & Webinars 📅 Mark your calendars for our live events and interactive sessions throughout the month: [Roadmap Webinar] The Evolution of Immersive One: Proving AI Readiness Across Your Enterprise Date & Time: Thursday, 8 October 2026 | 10:00 am EST / 3:00 pm BST Overview: Discover how to turn AI adoption into proven enterprise readiness with insights on our closed-loop resilience engine, the agentic frontier, and an exclusive sneak peek at our Q4 product roadmap. [Webinar] (Ghost) Busting Cybersecurity Myths: Separating Fact from Fiction Date & Time: Monday, 19 October 2026 | 10:00 am ET / 3:00 pm BST Overview: Join Container 7 experts as they debunk common cybersecurity myths, evaluate AI risks, and uncover practical strategies to build true organizational resilience. [Virtual Crisis Sim LIVE] The Return of the Puppetmaster: No Strings Attached Date & Time: Friday, 30 October 2026 | 10:00 am EST / 3:00 pm BST Overview: Put your crisis management team through a high-pressure live simulation tackling leaked enterprise credentials, insider threats, deepfakes, and rogue AI defense agents. Cyber Resilience Awards 2026 🏆 Keep your eyes peeled right here in the community and across our social channels during the final week of Cybersecurity Awareness Month! We will be announcing the winners of the Cyber Resilience Awards 2026, celebrating the individuals and organizations operating at the absolute cutting edge of cyber and AI resilience. Stay tuned to see who takes home top honors!It’s Not Magic, It’s Mechanics: Demystifying the OWASP Top 10 for AI
Welcome back to our series, “Behind the Scenes of Immersive One”! The following is a conversation with Sabrina Kayaci, Cybersecurity Engineer for Immersive One, and Rebecca Schimmoeller, Lead Product Marketing Manager. Today, we’re continuing the discussion on our Secure AI capability. “When developers hear ‘AI Security,’ they either start to sweat or eye-roll. It either feels like a black box where the old rules don’t apply, or it feels like inflated marketing hype. The truth is, AI vulnerabilities aren't magic; they are mostly just new manifestations of the classic flaws we’ve been fighting for decades. Once you map the new threats to the old patterns, the mystique fades. You realize it’s not magic to fear or hype to ignore—it’s just an engineering problem to solve.” Rebecca: Awesome frame, Sabrina. No matter where you sit on the spectrum—whether you’re anxious about the risks or skeptical of the buzz—AI security doesn't mean starting from zero. Developers should already have the muscle memory for this. Sabrina: Exactly. We aren't asking them to learn a new language; we're asking them to apply their existing fluency to a new dialect. That’s the core philosophy behind our new OWASP Top 10 for LLMs and GenAI collection. We tackle the problem that AI is often treated as a "new and daunting" field. By framing threats like Supply Chain Vulnerabilities or Excessive Agency as variations of known issues, we accelerate the learning curve. We strip away the "AI mysticism" to reveal the underlying mechanical flaw. Rebecca: I love "stripping away the mysticism." Let’s talk about how that works, starting with the big one everyone is concerned about—Prompt Injection. How do you take that from "scary AI jailbreak" to something a grounded engineer can fix? Sabrina: In the media, Prompt Injection is portrayed as this sentient ghost in the machine. In our lab, we treat it as an Input Validation failure. We show that the system is simply confusing "user input" with "system instructions." When a developer sees it through that lens, the eye-roll stops. It’s no longer hype; it’s just mixed context. And they know how to fix mixed context. We show them how to apply that architectural fix to an LLM. Rebecca: That maps perfectly. But looking at the curriculum, I see we go much deeper than just a standard "Top 10" checklist. Why was it important to go beyond the simple definitions? Sabrina: Because a definition tells you what something is, but it doesn't tell you how it impacts you. In the new OWASP LLM collection, we focus on Core Mechanics and Attack Vectors. We deconstruct threats like Data and Model Poisoning or Supply Chain vulnerabilities to show you exactly how they infiltrate a system. It’s the difference between knowing what an engine looks like and knowing how to take it apart. You need to understand the mechanics of the vulnerability to understand the potential impact—otherwise, you're just guessing at the fix. Rebecca: It sounds like we're upgrading their threat modeling software, not just their syntax. Sabrina: Yes, 100%. Look at Excessive Agency. That sounds like a sci-fi plot about a robot takeover. But when you do the lab, you realize it’s just "Broken Access Control" on steroids. It’s about what happens when you give an automated component too much permission to act on your behalf. Once a developer maps "Excessive Agency" to "Least Privilege," they stop worrying about the robot and start locking down the permissions. Rebecca: Is the goal to get them through all ten modules to earn a Badge? Sabrina: The OWASP Top 10 for LLMs Badge is the end state. It proves you have moved past the "sweat or eye-roll" reactive phase. To your manager, it signals you have a proactive, structured understanding of the AI risk landscape and can speak the language of secure AI. There’s no hype in that. Only value-add to you and your team. Final Thought Our OWASP Top 10 for LLMs collection is the antidote to AI security angst. For the developer, it demystifies the threat landscape, proving that their existing security instincts are the key to solving new problems. For the organization, it ensures that your AI strategy is built on a bedrock of engineering reality, rather than a shaky foundation of fear. [Access Collection]Architecting at Speed: Mastering Secure Development with OpenAI Codex
Welcome back to our series, “Behind the Scenes of Immersive One”! The following is a conversation with BenMcCarthy, Lead Cybersecurity Engineer for Immersive One, and RebeccaSchimmoeller, Lead Product Marketing Manager. Today, we’re continuing the discussion on our Secure AI capability. There is a misconception that security is the enemy of development speed. But with AI, the opposite is true. If you don't have security engineered into your AI workflow, you can't actually go fast—because you’re constantly stopping to fix 'trash code' or patch vulnerabilities. The developers who win in this era aren't just the ones coding faster; they are the ones architecting systems that are secure by design, even at AI speeds.” Rebecca: That’s a crucial distinction, Ben. We often hear that AI is a "firehose" of productivity, but without control, that firehose just creates a mess. It seems like the role of the developer is shifting from "writing lines" to managing this high-velocity output. How does the new Building with AI: Codex CLI collection help them make that shift? Ben: By giving them the controls they need to harness that speed safely. If you let OpenAI’s Codex run without guardrails or understanding, you get velocity, sure—but you also get risk. We designed this collection to empower developers to become their own Security Architects for their workflows. We are leveraging the Azure AI Foundry capability to give learners real, secure access to these models. The goal isn't to teach you how to hit "Tab" to autocomplete; it's to teach you how to rigorously evaluate, guide, and constrain what the AI produces using the command line tool like Codex so you can ship code that is both fast and bulletproof. Rebecca: So it’s about elevating the human’s role to "Architect." Let’s talk specifics given what the collection covers—how did you instill that mindset? Ben: We start by ensuring developers know the power of what you can do with Codex. How to get the best out of your models in this CLI tool. We go over effective prompt engineering, tool usage, and how AI can help with "Greenfield" projects (net-new builds) and "Brownfield" projects (legacy codebases). This is a critical skill for a lead engineer. AI is great at generating new code (greenfield), but it can be dangerous when it doesn't understand the hidden dependencies of a ten-year-old application (brownfield). We teach engineers how to spot those context gaps, key stuff that the AI might miss. Rebecca: I saw "specification-driven development" was a big part of your roadmap, too. How does that fit into the "speed" theme? Ben: This is the ultimate accelerator. Instead of writing the code line-by-line, you write the "spec"—the blueprint—and let Codex handle the implementation details. It’s not about doing less work; it’s about doing higher-leverage work. You define the logic and security constraints, and the AI handles the boilerplate. It shifts the developer’s brain from "how do I type this function?" to "what should this system actually do?" Rebecca: That sounds like a powerful approach, Ben. But what about the security risks? If developers are offloading implementation to Codex, how do they avoid leaking data or introducing bugs? Ben: That’s non-negotiable. In the Guardrails lab, we show learners how to build a safety net. We teach practical methods for stripping PII (Personally Identifiable Information) and using hooks to sanitize inputs before they reach the model. It gives developers the confidence to use these tools freely, knowing they have already engineered the safety mechanisms to protect their org. Rebecca: I saw a lab in the collection called "Tools and MCP" (Model Context Protocol). Is that where you get into advanced workflows? Ben: Exactly. This is where we give developers the keys to become a force multiplier. We show users how to connect Codex to other tools. This is the ideal definition of ROI for developers. You’re automating the tedious "check your work" phase, allowing you to ship secure code faster without burning out on manual review. Rebecca: It feels like that approach accepts today’s AI era realities for what they are and finds the strategic advantages… pushing developers towards productivity and security gains with real mastery. And just like the Claude collection, users have access to a Demonstrate Lab, to prove that mastery, am I right? Ben: Absolutely. The Demonstrate Lab challenges users to build a solution that’s efficient, functional, and secure. It proves that you aren't just an "AI user"—you are an AI Engineer who understands the capabilities the collection covers. Final Thought Our Building with AI: Codex collection is about upgrading the developer’s toolkit. For the organization, it ensures AI adoption is secure and scalable. For the engineer, it removes the drudgery of boilerplate, freeing you to focus on the creative, architectural challenges that drive real value. Ready to upgrade your workflow? [Access Collection]Beyond the Chat Window: How to Securely Vibe Code with Anthropic’s Claude
Welcome back to our series, “Behind the Scenes of Immersive One”! The following is a conversation with RobertKlentzeris, Application Security Content Engineer for Immersive One, and RebeccaSchimmoeller, Lead Product Marketing Manager. Today, we’re deep diving into one facet of our Secure AI capability. “We are seeing a shift from ‘chatting with AI’ to ‘inviting AI into the terminal.’ With the release of tools like Claude Code, developers aren't just copying and pasting snippets from a browser anymore. They are letting an agent live directly in their CLI, giving it permission to read file specs, run commands, and architect entire features. It’s a massive leap in capability—but also in trust.” Rebecca: That is the big shift we’re hearing about, Rob. The market is obsessed with the idea of "vibe coding" right now—just describing what you want and letting the AI handle the implementation details. But for a security leader, the idea of an AI agent having direct access to the CLI (Command Line Interface) sounds terrifying. It feels less like a helper and more like handing a stranger your SSH keys. Rob: That is exactly what makes Claude Code different from your standard autocomplete tools. You aren't just getting code suggestions; you are interacting with an agent that has tooling capabilities—like using MCP (Model Context Protocol) or running slash commands. If you don't know what you're doing, you might accidentally let the agent produce insecure code or mishandle PII in a way that’s harder to spot than a simple copy-paste error. This new collection is about bridging that gap: how do we embrace the speed of vibe coding without sacrificing the security of our platform? Rebecca: So it’s about safe integration. Let’s get into the weeds—what does the "safe" version of this look like in the actual Immersive One labs you created? Rob: We start by defining common patterns used in AI coding agents such as manual prompts and how you can write them so Claude generates secure code. We then go a little deeper and explore how you can let your agents start coding securely with more autonomy and less intervention while staying secure with spec-driven development. From there, we move to the components of Claude Code and show how to leverage these advanced features, such as custom slash commands and skills that can enhance the security of both large legacy and greenfield projects. Rebecca: I noticed your roadmap included a focus on "Guardrails" and "Claude Agents." Is this where we stop "trash code" from hitting production? Rob: Exactly. This is unique to the agentic workflow. In the Claude Agents lab, we teach users how to set up a "Reviewer Agent" that audits the code generated by the first agent. We also have a dedicated lab on Guardrails, focusing on stripping PII (Personally Identifiable Information) before Claude ever sees the data. It’s about ensuring that even if the AI is "vibing," the security protocols remain rigid. Rebecca: That sounds incredible for the security team, but what about the developer? If I’m used to just doing my thing, head down to deliver on time, won’t specification-driven development cramp my style? Rob: Fun fact: It actually makes you faster. Think of the 'spec' as the prompt that saves you ten revisions. At Immersive, we focus heavily on ROI and removing pain for users. In this case, we show developers how to use slash commands and hooks to automate the boring stuff. When you learn to use these tools properly, you stop wrestling with the AI and start conducting it. And because these labs are hands-on with real Claude Code access in a secure sandbox, you can experiment with these powerful agents without worrying about breaking your own local environment. Your manager will love that too. Rebecca: Ha! You’re right. It sounds like we’re giving users a safe place to crash-test the car before they drive it. And I see you wrap it all up with a "Demonstrate" lab? Rob: We do. We want to prove competence. The Demonstrate Lab is a capstone where you have to combine everything—usage, security, and productivity. You have to prove you know how to use Claude Code to build something functional and secure. It validates that you aren't just generating code; you're engineering with it. Final Thought Our Building with AI: Claude Code collection isn't just another coding tutorial. It is a blueprint for the agentic future of development. For you the developer, it turns Claude from a vibe code buddy into a fully integrated, secure pair programmer. For your organization, it transforms a potential security risk into a governed, high-speed workflow. Want to get started? [Access Collection]Breaking Down Walls to Make Way for AI
The rapid rise in the popularity and application of AI has been unprecedented. We are actively experiencing the dawn of a revolutionary chapter in technology and innovation, but it also feels a little like this, don't you think? AI is everywhere. Even where you didn’t ask for it, or frankly may not want it. Its rise brings security risks that require comprehensive, strategic management. Are you training your teams on AI security risks? Are you reviewing procedures to protect your business as the threat surface expands? You’re not alone. Let’s get into how we’re guiding customers through these challenges. Immersive can provide knowledge, skills building, and engaging challenges for your teams to address risks from different angles. Artificial intelligence foundations To protect an organization, you need to know what you’re protecting from. These are some of our core recommendations: AI for Business Gain an understanding of various risks associated with implementing and integrating AI in a business context. These risks include understanding the challenges of implementation, potential issues in day-to-day AI utilization, and the broader implications of AI on operations. These labs will equip individuals with the knowledge to effectively leverage AI, while being mindful of these risks. AI Fundamentals Learn about emerging threats, generative AI models, and prompt injection attacks. Gain a comprehensive understanding of AI's implications in cybersecurity, AI-related security risks, and gain practical experience mitigating those risks. Build knowledge around internal risks AI often enters businesses through productivity tools or internal chatbots, like ChatGPT, for HR or finance queries. Using internal AI apps creates risks around data access, data handling, privilege management, improper use of LLM, and compliance considerations (or consequences). Some of these considerations are also relevant for external risks with AI. Here are some collections to get your team’s gears turning around AI-adjacent considerations and internal risk: Cloud Security Identity and Access Management Secrets and Encryption in AWS NIST – Guidelines on Security and Privacy in Public Cloud Computing (800-144) Risk and Compliance ISO 22381 – Security and Resilience for Identification Systems ISO 27014 – Governance of Information Security ISO 27018 – Protecting Private Data in Public Clouds ISO 28000 – Security Management Systems for Supply Chains ISO 31000 – Risk Management Let’s not forget – with new tools comes new access and alerting patterns. You’ll need to ensure your Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) teams are ready for new signal analysis and identifying corresponding indicators of compromise (IoCs) with new technologies. Digital Forensics Introduction to Digital Forensics Digital Forensics Threat Hunting – Theory Threat Hunting Introduction to Incident Response and Forensics in AWS Upskill to protect your business from external risk As customer-facing AI expands, so does your threat surface. The risks remain rooted in attacks humans conduct today; they’re just becoming more sophisticated with AI. If threat actors use AI maliciously against your business, you might see advanced social engineering attacks. This could include sophisticated phishing attacks or AI-generated voice, image, or video to manipulate users into disclosing credentials. Here are a few hands-on content recommendations that will keep your team response ready: Events and Breaches Gain familiarity with some of the biggest cyber events and most infamous data breaches in hacking history. Buckle up for interactive labs that will get you thinking about real-world events and how AI could affect these types of scenarios. Events and Breaches: Data Exposure Events and Breaches: Phishing Fraud Events and Breaches: Data Leaks Emerging Threats Attackers are quick to adopt new tools and tactics, giving them a first-mover advantage. Labs in this collection will get you hands-on with the latest methods used by threat actors around the globe. These labs aren’t explicitly focused on AI threats, but since AI threats are rooted in legacy techniques, this collection will help your team prepare for the variations AI may introduce. There are also increased risks with publicly facing AI tools that are integrated into internal databases or systems. These non-human identities have access to potentially sensitive databases, making them inherently open to prompt injection attacks in addition to legacy techniques. Here are some of our content recommendations to prepare your teams explicitly for these types of AI challenges: Fundamental AI Algorithms Gain a deep understanding of various AI algorithms and their practical applications in cybersecurity. Engage with labs on machine learning, deep learning, specific algorithms, and complete tasks such as implementing algorithms and analyzing results. Practitioners will gain hands-on experience in applying AI techniques to enhance cybersecurity measures and mitigate cyber threats. AI Challenges Test your knowledge and skills around AI security risks such as AI plugin injections, function calling, and prompt injection attacks. Complete hands-on exercises to find vulnerabilities in AI systems, beat the bot, and actively exploit vulnerable LLM implementations. Staying ahead in a rapidly evolving tech landscape requires continuous learning and skill-building. But readiness doesn’t just stop there. You must also be well-practiced in handling new and challenging situations. Regular exercises, like prompt injection attack detection and AI-driven social engineering tabletop drills, are essential for keeping your teams prepared. As threats evolve, Immersive will continue to deliver integrated labs and industry-leading exercising capabilities so your teams are ready to protect your business. Share your thoughts What skills are critical for your team to mitigate AI risks? Did you beat our AI Challenges? Are you hungry for another byte 👾? Comment below! Stay ready in the face of increased risks – bot or not. Get updates in your inbox on posts like this by following the Human Connection Blog!
